Tara arrived in Los Angeles in the summer of 1998 from her native Michigan to attend The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, in pursuit of an acting career. Within three months of beginning her studies, she was suffering inexplicable fatigue. She was soon diagnosed as having acute myelogenic leukemia (AML). When Tara learned her best chance for survival would be a bone marrow transplant (BMT), a relative who is an oncologist recommended City of Hope Cancer Center as the only facility Tara should consider.
 
In October 1998, shortly after her 30th birthday, Tara was admitted to City of Hope for a BMT. Her brother Cheyne, one of two siblings who matched Tara’s marrow type, donated his marrow. While her BMT was a success, Tara acknowledges residual physical challenges that she says have simply served to strengthen her spirit. Yes, she says, she has lost her hair. She has had one hip replaced and walking for an extended duration is difficult. And the dream Tara once had to become a commercially sustained actress, no longer holds the same enchantment. Yes, she says, her life is different, but the changes, she insists, have brought their own reward. She lives with greater awareness and compassion and has discovered a new creative force within her, becoming a prolific writer.

Where once believed she would never again venture onto a stage as an actress, she is currently writing a one-woman show and is looking forward to performing it. In a nod to the optimism and oft-repeated words of her beloved physician, Anthony Stein, M.D., she has titled the work, “Other Than That, I’m Fine.” It is her story of illness, challenges, recovery and discovery. It is a story about life.